ALT2: ... that Samuel Barber said he could not adequately play his own Piano Sonata? Source: Sherman, Robert; Barber, Samuel (2010) [1978]. "Samuel Barber Interviewed by Robert Sherman (1978)". Samuel Barber Remembered: A Centenary Tribute. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN978-1-58046-350-8. JSTOR10.7722/j.ctt7zsv91.11., "I played [the sonata] for [Horowitz] at his house and I fell on the floor at the end of the third movement—that was really just a joke, but they were a little worried about me. It was awfully hard!" and Tocco, James (1977). "Happy Birthday, Samuel Barber!". Camera Three. CBS., Barber: "My sonata? No, no, no. I can't [play it]."
Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: - Offline/paywalled citation accepted in good faith
Interesting:
QPQ: Done.
Overall: Alt2 is the best out of the three. Alt0 could be interesting, but too vague - "this period" needs clarification, might be helpful if the year that the NYT made the comment was added. Alt1 I don't find interesting at all and would not recommend. All three hooks are properly sourced. Please ping me once the QPQ is complete so that I may approve the nomination.QPQ complete. Prefer alt3 to alt2 but both can be used.
Earwig doesn't flag any copyvio. The article is of good quality and in my opinion could pass a Good Article nomination if the nominator is interested in that. Jaguarnik (talk) 21:46, 20 August 2024 (UTC)
@Jaguarnik:, hello and thank you for the review. I also agree that Alt2 is probably going to be the most interesting to a broad audience. Maybe I could revise it a bit:
ALT3: ... that Samuel Barber, himself an accomplished, conservatory-trained pianist, said he could not adequately play his own Piano Sonata? Source: Sherman, Robert; Barber, Samuel (2010) [1978]. "Samuel Barber Interviewed by Robert Sherman (1978)". Samuel Barber Remembered: A Centenary Tribute. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN978-1-58046-350-8. JSTOR10.7722/j.ctt7zsv91.11., "I played [the sonata] for [Horowitz] at his house and I fell on the floor at the end of the third movement—that was really just a joke, but they were a little worried about me. It was awfully hard!", Tocco, James (1977). "Happy Birthday, Samuel Barber!". Camera Three. CBS., Barber: "My sonata? No, no, no. I can't [play it]." and Heyman, Barbara B. (2001). "Barber, Samuel (Osmond)". In Stanley Sadie; John Tyrrell (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan.
Let me know what you think. I would be fine with either ALT2 or ALT3; the ball is in your court! Zingaresetalk · contribs (please mention me on reply; thanks!) 15:08, 22 August 2024 (UTC)
@Zingarese: Personally I think alt 3 works a bit better than alt2, since it gives more context to why it's so surprising that Samuel Barber could not play his own sonata. I would remove "accomplished", not because he wasn't accomplished, but to avoid MOS:PUFFERY and because I don't think it's super necessary.Jaguarnik (talk) 20:48, 22 August 2024 (UTC)
Sounds wonderful! Promoter please just lose the “accomplished, “ from the hook. Zingaresetalk · contribs (please mention me on reply; thanks!) 17:37, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
mention me on reply; thanks!) 02:40, 20 August 2024 (UTC).
Alt2 is the best out of the three. Alt0 could be interesting, but too vague - "this period" needs clarification, might be helpful if the year that the NYT made the comment was added. Alt1 I don't find interesting at all and would not recommend. All three hooks are properly sourced. 
mention me on reply; thanks!) 15:08, 22 August 2024 (UTC)